Hello, I was on here a while ago with another emergency (which was taken care of), but now I'm back with a different issue and many questions.

#1 Bart seemed to have changed from a light pink when we first got him 2 years ago to a very dark red now. [SEE ATTATCHED PHOTOS]

#2 His tail was once flowy and big, now it's curled in and shorter...fin rot?

#3 We assumed it was fin rot, so we started to do a 75% change of water and still use our water conditioner. But do we need to cut down on the amount of conditioner since we're not using a full gallon of clean water (it says 7 drops to every gallon).

#4 Salt treatment, will this help? and how to properly do it?

#5 Invest in a bigger tank? We have him in a 1 gallon bowl.

#6 Should we go ahead and use medication, or wait and see if we see changes in Bart with the changes we are making (not doing 100% water changes and reducing his feeding amounts)

Please see attatched photos and tell us what you think it is and how we can make Bart better. Thank you again.

him gettin darker (or coloring up) is usually a sign that your doing good... I can't see ur pix on my work computer, but IMO i wouldn't medicate yet... Upgrading to a bigger tank is def gonna be better for him and with a tank that small you should be doin both a 1-50% and 1-100% water change weekly at a minimum. If its fin rot the tips of his tail should be black or streaked with a red that doesn't belong... If you want to start him on the AQ salt treatment do 1tsp/gal for 10 days with 100% water changes everyday... is his bowl heated at all? grab the sticky and try to fill that out so we can help u better...

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

#1 Its normal for older fish to darken colors or change them especially with mables.

#2 It might be caused by finrot but I cant tell. Dark edges are a sign of it.

#3 You do need to cut down on the conditioner at least I think so I might be wrong but pre-mixing it is an easy way to do it.

#4 Salt treatment will help finrot and 1tsp /gal is the easiest solution and the one I think that is given on this site. I do it in quarter or half doses to see what the lowest does is to give the effect I want.

#5 Tanks I feel are easier to maintain and clean once cycled and usually makes the fish happier and he can have friends! Lol but in reality the more water the more water that can buffer if something goes wrong. Smaller bodies of water get dirtier faster etc.

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gallon bowl.
What temperature is your tank? room temperature or as close to it as we can get it.
Does your tank have a filter? no.
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? it has gravel on the bottom and a fake plant, but I don't think those count...
Is your tank heated? no.
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none, he's our only boy.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Wardley Betta Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? we've been feeding him once in the morning and once before bed, but we've been told to cut back. So we are going to start feeding him once a day? and watch him eat his food. Good idea?
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? twice a week.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? We've been doing 100% changes without using soap, just rinsing everything off.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aqua Safe made by Tetra Aqua

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? We have not.

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Darker in color and tail fin has shrivled in and belly fin seems to be missing now...
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He still swims about and gets fiesty at times, but he stays at the bottom some times and dosn't seem to move.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? We've been noticing for a little bit, but didn't think much of it until now.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes, by doing a 75% water change.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Yes, we got in trouble with him floating sideways and lifeless, but we found out it was caused by us using soap to clean him container.
How old is your fish (approximately)? We got him about 2 years ago, so a little older than that.